Envision Lincoln catches attention of Lt. Gov., Main Street Montana Rural Partners

Trails, traffic, tourism and teamwork were all topics of discussion as Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney sat down with Lincoln stakeholders and Main Street Montana Rural Partners Monday, Oct. 22.

Administered by the Community Development Division of the Montana Office of Tourism, Main Street Montana helps communities revitalize and preserve their historic downtowns by uniting community ideas and efforts with program organization and resources. Focusing on economic development, urban renewal and historic preservation, the program provides services to communities striving to enhance economic vitality while maintaining local vision.

Main Street Montana coordinator Tash Wisemiller visited Lincoln in March, at the request of the Envision Lincoln group, to present an overview of some of the opportunities and aid the program could provide.

After introductions by representatives from the governor's office, the Envisoin Lincoln core team, the Blackfoot Challenge, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Commerce, Montana DNRC, Lincoln Ranger Station, the Wilderness Society, the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce and other local action groups, Lt.Gov. Cooney began the meeting with a brief address.

"This is not for me to do a lot of speechifying, we're here to listen," Cooney said. "Main Street Montana Rural Partners was built on the success of the original Main Street Montana that was launched in 2013 by Gov. Bullock. This next phase is going to focus on empowering small towns like Lincoln to get ahead and stay ahead and ensure that economic opportunities are shared all throughout the state. We're here today and will be traveling throughout the state in the next few weeks to hear from the communities we're visiting and their leaders and the stakeholders, and learn about some of the challenges that we may be able to help find ways to address. We are going to learn from the communities like Lincoln that have come together to make economic progress toward a more prosperous future."

On the heels of Cooney's remarks, local activist Paul Roos introduced an overview of what is happening in Lincoln, focusing on the priorities pinpointed by Envision Lincoln Action Teams over the past year.

Envision Lincoln began more than a year ago through a grant from the LOR Foundation and by members of local interest groups decided to address the need for a collaborative, community-wide vision for Lincoln. The resulting meeting of the minds sought to involve the community and encouraged all to contribute opinions, thoughts, and hopes for Lincoln. They identified a set of strategies and desired results for the community and established a set of "action teams," each dedicated to a specific area of interest. Representatives of each of these groups had the opportunity to brief the assembly Wednesday on their progress, plans and road-blocks.

"We wanted to get to a point where we were prepared for...a major jumping-off point, where we knew what we were going to do and had at least an idea of how we were going to do it," Roos said. "We knew that we would need grants and professional assistance – probably the kind of assistance that is being offered in this room."

Talking points included a catalog of local assets including the proximity to Federal Wilderness and public lands, the presence of an international sculpture park, our community-driven health and recreation center, an established outdoors club for local kids, the Community River Park, increasing community support for hikers and bicyclists, Lincoln's designation as a Continental Divide Trail Gateway Community, the presence of a state-owned airport, and a growing system of trails.

"Everyone in Lincoln recognizes that the community sits in the middle of hundreds and hundreds of miles of trails on both public and state land. Connecting the community to those trails is in our minds, but as a manageable first step we decided to focus on in-town trails, connecting the assets that the community has" said Natural Environment Team representative Gary Moseman.

Moseman said his team's objective is to establish trails that connect the parks, downtown businesses, school, ranger station and Parker Medical Clinic.

Possible stumbling blocks, ongoing struggles and future goals were also brought to the table. Major areas of concern voiced by Action Team representatives included the problem of how to get travelers on Highway 200 to slow down when entering town and stop in Lincoln, crime and the lack of Law Enforcement manpower, and snow removal. Major goals were a town-oriented trails system, downtown revitalization and beautification, and an outdoor farmer's market.

Economy Team representative Brent Anderson called Highway 200's status as a major arterial "a boon to Lincoln, part of why we exist," and also "one of our major problems."

"Bottom line is, Lincoln's been discovered," said Anderson. "It's not the same place I grew up in. That's good, and that's bad."

Priority number one for the Economy Team, Anderson said, is to create a more beautiful and inviting downtown space that will encourage travelers to stop, shop and stay in Lincoln.

"Trails have to go someplace," Anderson said. "The problem with Lincoln now, that I see, is that it's not necessarily that appealing. Our valley's appealing, everything else is great, but downtown needs a lot of work."

For his part, Cooney listened, asked questions and encouraged Lincoln groups to continue with their efforts to bring diverse and interesting events and opportunities to Lincoln.

"Communities who are really growing and prospering and doing some great things are figuring out this event thing," he said. "We're here because of the work that you've done. It's evident that this community has really come together and done a job of trying to figure out how to make Lincoln bigger and better and greater, but keep Lincoln, Lincoln. That's why you all are here."

"Timber interests, conservation folks, mountain bikers, motorized recreationists...folks that in other landscapes you tend to see butting heads or at odds, here, have found a really great way to work together," said Wilderness Society Representative Jordan Reeves. "It's led to things like support for this new Beaver Creek trail system, where we're building mountain bike trails and motorized recreation and hiker trails. That...has a great chance to grow and...leverage in-town trails planning and make all of the important connections. It feels like there's a lot more opportunities, a lot more projects to grab onto."

"I'm excited to hear this because I feel like it's where we need to be going," said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks director Martha Williams. "We have always needed to support our traditional base of hunters and anglers. We can't leave that behind and don't want to. But if we're going to be relevant and survive going forward, it is by also bringing in recreation and the health of communities...and you've already pulled it all together here."

"It's the partnering and it's the diversity of our perspectives that we have to acknowledge and respect and listen to, and I think that is where the power is coming from in Lincoln," Roos agreed.

"One of the things that I see happening with this movement is...it's finally something that we can really grab onto and be so proud of, because people love to come to Lincoln, and I think a lot of the locals are really figuring that out the more and more people we invite to stop by," said lifelong resident and Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild President Becky Garland.

"I look forward to continuing our work together as we go down this path and see what we can do," Cooney said. "We might not be able to accomplish everything, but I think that by putting our heads together we can accomplish an awful lot. I just want to make sure that we're not standing in your way."